1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for plant culture and, more particularly, to such a method and apparatus which are adapted to training the growth of plants in such a fashion as to facilitate the maintenance and productivity thereof by segregating the areas of growth, all in a manner which minimizes the amount of manual labor required to accomplish the foregoing while concomitantly making possible substantially the full automation of such care.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Operations associated with the raising of field crops are dependent upon a multiplicity of factors inherent in the nature of the crop, the growth patterns of the plants, the susceptibility of the plants to parasites and disease, and, more generally, the horticultural practices required in producing the desired results. It has long been known, for example, that the natural growth patterns of the plants may interfere with the performance of some or all of these operations. The training of plants in an effort to minimize or overcome these difficulties is a necessity in modern farming operations.
For example, the successful commercial production of grapes and raisins has long been dependent upon the training of the grapevines on trellis structures to support the grapevines not only for harvesting of the crop therefrom, but also for those horticultural practices required in a successful commercial operation. Left without support, grapevines of all varieties would trail on the ground in such a fashion as to make commercial production completely impossible. Therefore, grapevines are typically grown in rows supported on trellis structures which retain the trunks in upright attitudes so that the crop is, in large part, retained out of ground engagement; so that the canes can be pruned after harvest to prepare the vines for the next growing season; so that the grapevines can be sprayed with insecticide and fertilized as necessary; and so that the grapevines can otherwise be cared for in a manner consistent with the current state of technology.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, farming is still plagued by chronic difficulties incident to these considerations. The increase in the cost of manual labor has caused commercial farming operations to rely more heavily on mechanization. However, many of the foregoing considerations have prevented full mechanization as a means of maintaining the cost of such commercial operations within manageable proportions. Thus, for example, in the case of the commercial production of grapes and raisins, the natural growth patterns of the grapevines are in many cases directly in conflict with those procedures which must be performed in any such commercial operations. Thus, it is known that the canes of the grapevine which produce the crop do so substantially only in the second season of growth. Thus, the canes grow in a first season and those same canes produce the crop in the second season. Conversely, once the fruiting canes have produced a crop, they are no longer as productive and proper horticultural practice calls for those canes, once the crop has been harvested, to be pruned from the grapevine to make room for the growth of new or renewal canes. Unfortunately, the canes naturally grow in a haphazard, random manner which makes it exceedingly difficult to distinguish a first year's growth from a second year's growth. Accordingly, a chronic problem resides in the fact that unskilled laborers frequently prune canes which should be left for the next season's production and mistakenly avoid pruning canes which should be removed to make way for new cane growth in the subsequent season. This not only reduces production in the following years, but is also exceedingly expensive.
Similarly, the random growth pattern of grapevines, even when supported on conventional trellis structures, results in the canes, foliage and crop being so intermixed as to interfere with such operations as harvesting, spraying, pruning, and the like. Similarly, the foliage and canes typically enclose the crop in such a manner that moisture produced by inclement weather is largely entrapped, thereby damaging the crop. Even during clear weather, the desired direct exposure of the crop to sunlight is reduced by the foliage of the grapevines.
Still another example can be found in the vine drying of grapes to form raisins. It has been known to dry grapes on the vine to form raisins in order to avoid the more common process of laying the grapes on trays on the ground for drying. One conventional method, for example, for vine drying of grapes to form raisins calls for the grapes to be sprayed with a substance, such as methyl oleate, to remove the protective coating from the grapes and to sever the canes at a particular time to enhance the dehydration process. In any case, due to the entanglement of the fruiting canes with the renewal canes, it is extremely difficult for field workers to distinguish between the canes. Furthermore, the encapsulating foliage interferes with spraying of the grapes and exposure to sunlight. Accordingly, such conventional vine drying methods have proved less than satisfactory.
Therefore, it has long been known that it would be desirable to have a method and apparatus for plant culture which is capable of training plants in such a fashion as to be fully compatible with the horticultural practices required; which substantially increases the efficiency with which commercial farming operations can operate; which makes possible substantially the full automation of such farming operations; which enhances exposure of the crop produced thereby to sunlight fully to receive the beneficial effects thereof; which requires minimal manual labor throughout the year, both during the dormant and growing seasons, while achieving the optimum horticultural benefits; which has particular utility in the commercial production of grapes and raisins; and which is otherwise fully dependable in achieving the most economic and productive farming operations.